Use email blasts. Emails are still a great way to communicate and make contact with customers and drive them to your social media sites and website.

Pay attention to your competition. Take time to do your own market research.

Remember even with a tiny budget you can still reap the benefits of having social media as part of your PR efforts. Be consistent and persistent in following the plan you develop to reach your target audiences in a timely manner. What tips do you follow to keep your social media plan in check and within budget?

Thursday, January 17, 2013

I like to ride my bikes. Admittedly, I haven’t been riding
nearly as much the last few years for a variety of reasons, but I still
consider myself to be a cyclist. I watch the Tour de France and other, lesser
known, bike races on TV and I looked forward to the Superweek bike race when it
used to come to Green Bay during the summer.

And yes, I was a fan of Lance Armstrong. In fact, I’m
probably among the few who recall when he raced in Downtown Green Bay during
the Superweek series in the late ‘90s (post-cancer, pre-Tour de France wins).
He and his teammate used it as a training ride, disappearing from the race with
several laps to go. My assumption is he just didn’t want the attention at that
time.

Well, he certainly did get a lot of attention since then,
winning the Tour de France seven times and creating the LIVESTRONG Foundation that has raised
millions in the fight against cancer. Now, he’s just another disgraced athlete.

I recently tossed my Lance Armstrong book in the trash.
Believe me, throwing a book away is not something I take lightly. But I felt
betrayed. Even as it became more and more difficult to believe Armstrong’s
denials of doping, like a lot of other people, I wanted to believe him. When he
let it be known that he would not fight the USADA allegations, it was time for
me to admit I had supported a cheater and liar for many, many years.

With Armstrong’s confession to Oprah this week, it would be
easy to just write Armstrong off and delete him from my very short list of
favorite athletes (Henry Aaron and Bart Starr among them), but there’s still
the LIVESTRONG aspect.

One can’t deny that LIVESTRONG
has done an amazing job in raising awareness of cancer programs. Armstrong did
beat cancer and continues that fight. With his admissions this week, it’s been
reported that Armstrong may want to compete again in triathlons. But maybe it’s
time for him to ride into the sunset and hope that the LIVESTRONG Foundation can continue its fight despite the ways of it’s
now disgraced founder.

Are you conflicted about Lance Armstrong? Can you continue
to support the LIVESTRONG
Foundation?

Thursday, January 10, 2013

You
have your social media site(s) set up and ready to go. Great! So now what?

Setting
up an account is the easy part. Coming up with quality content that will
attract followers or fans can be a bit trickier. But you don’t need to take a
hit or miss approach to content. Learning a few tips can help make the job
easier. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Know who your
audience is.
You spend so much initial investment time to set up your Facebook account,
importing photos and writing your company bio that it’s easy to forget that the
page really isn't for you. It’s for your audience. In order to write content
that will get noticed, you need to put yourself in the seat of the person you
want to attract. What do they want to read or see?

Focus on the
20/80 rule.
I love this idea because it’s simple to remember when it comes to the content
you should be generating. Basically, it means that 20 percent of your social
media posts should focus on the company and talking about yourself while the
other 80 percent of your content should focus on industry related topics,
breaking news that impacts the industry, etc. Posting solely about a company
product or service over and over isn't going to gain you an audience (in fact
it might cause you to lose some people). You need to share information that
your audience finds interesting, worthwhile and useful. That will keep them
coming back.

Simply put, engage. Being connected
through social media means your audience will expect a quick and accurate
response to questions and comments. Don't ignore your fans and manage issues
right away. Responding to posts creates a dialogue and gives your fans a sense
of community. Another thing you can do to help engage your fans is to take and
post photos. People are more likely to click on links that include photos so
use it to your advantage. Post relevant articles and ask your audience
questions that require more than a yes or no answer. And most importantly,
spend just as much, if not more time listening. Your audience will tell you
what they are interested in.

Taking
time to apply these simple tips can help you with writing content from the
point of view of your audience and put you on the path of success. Does anyone
have a success story where the content they posted resonated with their
audience? Please share!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

2013. It’s here. So is the time for
New Year’s resolutions. But resolutions aren’t just for your personal life;
it’s always good to have a few for your professional life as well. Coming up
short on ideas? Let me suggest a few:

Continue your education. Don’t get so complacent in your work that you aren’t
interested in seminars, presentations or classes that offer an opportunity
to expand your horizons and learn new skills.

Learn/understand new technology and media platforms. I cringe when I hear someone in our business state:
“I don’t really know much about (insert social media platform here) and since
it will probably be out of date in no time, why learn about it?” Yes, I’ve
actually heard people utter similar statements. Even if you don’t use the
particular new technology or new media platform in question you SHOULD, in the
very least, know about them.

Network. It pays to
network. Networking can be a huge boost to your career and profile. In the PR
biz, networking is essential for professional growth and it comes in handy for
your clients as well. It’s fun to pair up two clients who need each other’s
services or talents.

Be personable: Smile and say thank you. We’re all rushed these days, but these two things are easy
to do and take very little time. When you’re smiling, it puts people at ease.
My husband, who’s an engineer/educator, started to deliberately smile when
students looked up from their lab work. He says it has made a world of
difference in students being willing to ask for help or ask questions. Makes
sense. You’d rather interact with someone who’s friendly than someone who just
stares at you or looks grumpy. As for saying thank you; it’s something we
don’t do enough. It’s kind of like smiling……it makes people feel
good and makes them know they’re appreciated.

So what are your professional
resolutions this year? What resolutions in the past turned out to be really
helpful to your career. Love to hear what you think.